The field of the invention is bicycles and the invention relates more particularly to mountain bicycles which have a front wheel suspension which provides a travel as the front wheel hits a bump. This permits the absorption of shock and greatly improves the ride of the bicycle.
A suspension has been devised to provide generally vertical movement for the front wheel of a bicycle or a motorcycle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,135 provides such a linkage by utilizing a pair of pivoted arms affixed to the frame of the motorcycle at one end and to ball joints at the forward end. The steering requires an elaborate universal joint and hinge plates and has numerous pins and arms that could be easily damaged. Various linkages have been used to suspend the front end of a bicycle or motorcycle. The use of a generally horizontal link holding the front wheel is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,212,481, 4,379,567, 4,410,196, 4,531,755 and 4,570,963. A linkage utilizing an angled wheel support arm is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,302. None of the above patents teach a lightweight linkage to provide vertical movement for the front wheel of a bicycle without in any way interfering with the handling of the bicycle in rough terrain.